


local witch (falls in love!)

by jenomeow



Category: NCT (Band), NCT 127 - Fandom
Genre: (those two should be official tags tbh), Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, M/M, Oblivious Jungwoo, Pining, Potion Shop, genius jungwoo, prodigious jaehyun, they're witches and they're gay that's it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2020-12-02 02:36:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20972708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenomeow/pseuds/jenomeow
Summary: He went around the whole kingdom, cured the rarest diseases and knew everything about every book ever, but about feelings? Oh, that wasn't his forte. Jungwoo is the biggest genius the magic world has ever seen, but he can be kind of... clueless for certain things.(or the one where Jungwoo is the genius witch working for the king and Jaehyun is the local potion master, and they fall in love)#S089





	local witch (falls in love!)

**Author's Note:**

> now that we talk about love in the summary of this work let me tell you this fest made me fall in love with fic fests in general oof
> 
> a big thank you to my beta because she was reaaaaally amazing, specially with this fic she just... she was an angel, ok? her help was great and she gave me so many good ideas i actually used and in short, i enjoyed working with her uwu
> 
> to my prompter: hello i hope you like it!! i loved working on this so now please enjoy the result hehe
> 
> thank you all for reading, have fun with the fic! ♡♡

Jungwoo graduated from the magical university of medicine with a perfect score and a specialization in healing magic. He studied in his kingdom’s capital for a while and eventually went to the best university on the continent to continue his studies. Jungwoo was considered a contemporary genius. But he, however, felt that he was still a gullible child; there were so many things that he didn’t know, and he had already learned everything his university and books had to offer, so he had to learn on his own through experience.

He put a couple of things in a backpack, packed his medical instruments and set out for the most remote places of all, where there weren't many doctors, even less magical doctors, and mutated and unknown diseases in every corner, principally in the forest. People from places like that knew a lot about plants and had some interesting spells, not to mention traditional healers.

His trip was full of learning and experiences that helped him to realize everything he didn't know and how he could apply what he did know. 

One day, while walking through a forest on the limits of his kingdom with his familiar Doyoung, they found a war zone. Jungwoo was aware that at the borders everything was more hectic and difficult, with other kingdoms wanting to invade and with unpeaceful tribes everywhere. He hated that kind of places, but he had to go through it if he wanted to continue on his way, so taking a shaky breath he went into that destroyed village.

It seemed that they had managed to evacuate before the the violence began, since they didn't see any citizen around. The soldiers, however, abounded. He felt the remnants of magic in the environment, and he could hear the sobs of the nearby trees, terrified by what happened. He murmured a melodious spell that asked for peace, which he learned in his days with the nomads of the west, who used this spell at the funerals for souls to rest.

Doyoung went by his side without saying anything, too focused on not stepping on a corpse to comment on how horrible all that was; the collapsed houses, the occasional small fire still burning and swords and spears on the ground. Empty potion bottles were the most visible at his feet.

He felt it before seeing it: the light heat of life that was hidden between so much cold death. There was a survivor somewhere there, a survivor with a powerful magic... And it wouldn't last long if they didn't find them soon.

Doyoung's senses were magnificent, so in less than two minutes they found a man near the center of the town, with an arrow in the stomach and a stab in the chest. He was alive merely thanks to a potion which effect was already running out, and willpower.

The man was breathing heavily and not even wailing, just squinting at the sky, losing consciousness little by little. His features were sharp, masculine and contorted in an expression of pain and resignation.

The witch and his familiar approached the guy, Doyoung holding the first-aid kit in his hands, ready to follow instructions. Even if Jungwoo knew that the soldier wouldn’t remember, he introduced himself: "I'm Kim Jungwoo, hello. Let me help to heal you with some magic."

When the man woke up, he thought he was dead. Images of what happened that morning through his mind. Gradually he gained awareness about his body and realized that he was quite alive and sore, in fact. He was lying on a surface that felt like a bed, which was strange, because his surroundings looked like the inside of a cave, lit by candles. He ran a hand down his torso and chest, feeling a bandage, and let out a soft groan when he touched a particular spot that made him feel a sharp pain, near the stomach.

Throughout his life he had been seriously injured again and again, so it was nothing new to find himself lying in a bed, trying to recover and return to work soon. He knew how it felt to wake up after a war: with thirst, his head spinning, his body pounding, with so much pain everywhere that he could no longer even identify the exact place. But this time... if it wasn't because he touched his wound, he wouldn't feel any kind of pain. Weird.

He stopped thinking about the aches that he didn’t actually had when a pair of rabbit ears entered his view, and soon, with the ears, came the gentle face of a man, smiling as he looked at him from a side of the bed.

"Hi, I'm Doyoung, a familiar," he said. "How do you feel?"

"Good," the man pronounced, in a raspy voice due to lack of use. He cleared his throat before continuing. "Doyoung, where are we? What happened?"

Instead of responding, Doyoung opened a potion bottle and poured its contents into the man's abdomen, eliminating all the pain he felt. The familiar helped the survivor to sit on the bed, leaning against cushions. That position gave him a better sight of the place: it was indeed a cave illuminated with a warm orange light that came from small fireballs floating at different points, a spell not very useful considering that the fire didn’t illuminate a lot, but for some reason it was one of the most difficult spontaneous creation spells of all.

On a table made of the same rock as the cave's walls, there were medical instruments, several potions and magic medicines, in addition to a mortar and a pocket cauldron. Doyoung hummed as he approached the table and stirred ingredients and potions from side to side, grinding a couple of things and lighting the cauldron.

"My witch and I found you when we were crossing a town destroyed by war," he explained distractedly. "You were practically dead, but he managed to save you. He healed your wounds, cleaned your body, prepared the cave and the ingredients. All you see here is his creation."

"And where is he?"

"Oh, you could say that we are travelers, so when he made sure you were out of danger, he resumed our path, and left me in charge of you until you woke up and I accompanied you to the nearest town," he shrugged. "It's been three days since that."

After that none said much more, Doyoung focused on whatever he was preparing at the table and the man thinking about what was said by the familiar and remembering what happened that fateful day.

"What is your witch's name?" he asked after a while.

"Kim Jungwoo."

The concept of hospital didn’t exist in the small and distant nomadic tribes. Jungwoo made them see that if they treated the sick people in a separate area, they could avoid many infections.

He had sent Doyoung for some herbs that were needed in the little tent used as an infirmary, but Jungwoo could hear the children laugh and shout excitedly "Bunny, Mr. Bunny!" so he was sure his familiar got distracted playing with the kids of the tribe, again.

Jungwoo gave follow-up treatment to the oldest woman in the tribe, who suffered from a heart condition, but had more energy and strength than even the most playful children in there.

"Such a handsome and intelligent boy treating a poor old woman in the middle of nowhere," the lady scoffed, laughing softly. Jungwoo chuckled, approaching her with one of the potions he prepared.

"I just want to help people and apply my knowledge, no matter where in the world I am or who my patient is," he explained.

"Three weeks ago, we walked near the capital and heard that the king is recruiting his own elite of medical witches, not only to be treated when he is sick, he wants them to devote themselves to research and cure the diseases of the kingdom and improve potions and medications. You should go, I'm sure they would accept you immediately. "

The young man shook his head, smiling amused. He instructed the woman to drink the contents of the bowl and she obeyed.

"The capital is too far away, by the time I arrive, the call will be over."

He wasn't dumb, he knew he didn't even need to submit an application; The name Kim Jungwoo was widely recognized in the kingdom, and so were the contributions he made to medicine while he was a student. His fame began to run through every corner and now everyone speculated that the mysterious traveling doctor was him, the prodigious Jungwoo.

Of course, he would love to be part of that team, because the essence of the project proposed by King Taeyong was amazing, but as he told the woman, even with the most powerful speed potion, it would take three days to reach the capital, and the call closed the next day.

"Um, Jungwoo, Ms. Park?" Doyoung called, peering through the entrance of the tent, with a one-year-old boy resting on his hip and supported by his arms. "You should come see this."

Curious and confused, they listened to Doyoung and left the tent, not taking too long to meet the whole tribe gathered a few meters away, where men in horses and shining armors spoke with the leader of the tribe. It didn’t seem to be a hostile confrontation, on the contrary, they smiled and helped children ride their horses. Everyone turned to look at Jungwoo and stepped aside, revealing a man who wasn’t riding a horse and who didn’t stand out in the middle of the crowd, but that caught the witch’s attention, he seemed imposing: he didn’t wear armor but clothes to mount that looked expensive, a perfect and sharp, angular face. Big eyes and excited smile. Jungwoo straightened when sparkles from precious stones made him aware of the crown keeping the man's dark hair out of his face.

However, the way he stood, slightly bent over, and the way his crown was languidly positioned over his head, carelessly and about to fall at any second, reflected how relaxed he possibly was. He approached Jungwoo and Ms. Park jogging with emotion, surrounded by unknown people and without any guard following him. It was just as the stories described him: the carefree and cheerful King Taeyong, who was a beast on the battlefield and a perfect ruler on the throne.

And he was the man whom Jungwoo saved his life a few months ago. The man he and Doyoung found in the middle of a random battlefield.

"Kim Jungwoo, you don't know how long I've been looking for you!" the king exclaimed, once he stopped right in front of the witch. Jungwoo was taller than him. "But in the end, I found you. First, I want to thank you for saving my life a while ago, please let me compensate you. And second, would you like to be part of my magical doctors elite?"

"The king has searched for you throughout the kingdom, Kim Jungwoo," explained one of the knights. "He really wants you to be part of his witches court.”

And that was how his next great adventure began.

…

Jaehyun opened his potions shop with excitement, anticipating the day ahead. It was Thursday, so Jungwoo would go for his potions of the week.

The store was the most famous in the capital, despite being relatively small. Jaehyun, the owner, was the best potion creator in the entire kingdom, so people from all over the world traveled only to buy his potions. And even with all the different and interesting clients he had, no one would ever interest him as Jungwoo did.

Jungwoo worked for the king as his personal witch. It was well known that the witch helped in the army and in the castle, but he was always the one who was next to King Taeyong at all times, acting as a magical bodyguard and companion. You couldn't expect less from Jungwoo, however. He was a genius, a literal and enormous genius: he had gone to the same magic high school as Jaehyun, and despite being younger, Jungwoo was ahead for several years. He graduated much earlier than normal and went to another kingdom to study at the university, and nobody knew exactly what kind of magic he specialized in, only that it was difficult.

Neither Jaehyun nor Jungwoo were from the capital, both were from a small distant town. Jaehyun studied Potions at the university and became the best in the field, so it wasn’t difficult for him to set up a store in the capital and settle there; Jungwoo was called by the king himself, and now he worked in the palace.

Since high school, Jaehyun paid attention to Jungwoo, like most people who ran into the young witch. He was cute and cuddly, as well as terribly intelligent and his voice was beautiful; It was natural to notice him, wanting to approach him. And Jungwoo probably knew how nice he was, because he was intelligent and realized many things... related to magic, because if it had nothing to do with it, Jungwoo was in the clouds. He didn't realize the most obvious things, like the huge and very gay crush that Jaehyun, the potions master of his favorite store, had in him.

...

Jaehyun's store, Highway to Heaven was less spacious than what you would expect from such a famous place. The store was divided into half dedicated to potions already made and the other half to ingredients. All the items were placed on shelves like those in bookstores, tall and full of things, as well as baskets for things like unicorn horns and candles for rituals. The place smelled of lavender and cinnamon, and the walls were pastel green with pictures of landscapes that changed throughout the day. Behind the counter was always Jaehyun’s young apprentice, Jaemin. In the top floor, Jaehyun made his potions, and his familiar, a puppy named Johnny, always walked around the store either in his animal or human form.

Usually, Jaehyun was always upstairs making more potions, unless Jaemin called him for assistance . Except of course, on Thursdays, since it was the day when Jungwoo visited the store.

The other witch was sometimes accompanied by his familiar, a bunny named Doyoung, or his apprentice Jeno, but in general he went alone, and walked around the store absentmindedly before taking a basket and filling it with potions and ingredients, giving Johnny his list so that he would go for the dangerous and strange ingredients at the back of the store, all safely stored behind the heavy and thick wooden door behind the counter.

Jungwoo somehow managed to go to Highway to Heaven when there were no customers or very few. When he was just strolling through the halls, Jaemin retired to rest upstairs and Jaehyun stood behind the counter waiting for Jungwoo to collect everything he needed to charge him. Sometimes Jungwoo asked for more complex potions that were not on sale for the general public and it was in those occasions when Doyoung came alone to pick up the order, since Jungwoo went on Thursdays and only on Thursdays.

"Did you find what you wanted?" Jaehyun asked, with his best smile. Jungwoo nodded, smiling shortly.

"Yes. Without a doubt this is the best potion shop there is," he said. "I always find what I need and the potions are of great quality."

Jaehyun laughed delighted. "I'm glad you're happy with our products!"

They waited for Johnny to bring three bundles of unicorn fish vocal cords, once that was there, Jungwoo would have his full purchase.

Jaehyun reviewed the products that Jungwoo would take, finding a love potion, two hate potions, three tickle potions, one to heal broken hearts, another for extreme intelligence for fifteen minutes, and two to numb someone for three hours. In addition, he had an eight-pointed roadrunner's tail, a large bottle of mermaid vomit, four horns of wild boar from paradise, and two golden fly wings. He smiled with amusement; Jungwoo always bought such strange things.

Once, Jaemin asked him why he needed such different things. Jungwoo replied that he bought only what he would work with for the next seven days, and that he needed all that to improve the products that were provided as work material in the palace, or to make his own potions for really specific things. That was a branch of potion creation too difficult to master, and Jaehyun only knew of four people in the kingdom who could do it, including Jungwoo and himself. The art of making potions using other potions was hard to tame.

Eventually, Johnny arrived with what was missing from Jungwoo's purchase, who paid and left. Jaehyun gave him his best smile, which the other returned.

"You've been in love with Jungwoo for a lifetime," Johnny commented, once he and his witch were alone. "and Jungwoo doesn't notice. It starts to get a little sad to see, you know?"

Jaehyun looked at him with annoyance. "Shut."

…

"I've noticed you're in the store only on Thursdays." Jungwoo commented. This time, Johnny went to look for dangerous potions at the back of the store. Jaehyun smiled at him with dimples and everything.

"How did you notice if you only come on Thursdays?" he returned, amused.

"Okay, I didn't notice. Jeno and Doyoung told me, they had come other days and they say that it's always, whatever day or time it is, Jaemin the one who is at the counter. Except on Thursdays."

"It is true." He nodded. "And you know the reason, I already mentioned it."

"Mm? I know the reason?"

"You are the reason," he replied, with an intense look straight into Jungwoo's eyes. "I know you come on Thursdays, so I tell Jaemin to leave his place this day so I can see you."

Jungwoo blinked at the information, but ended up laughing softly, and just then Johnny appeared with the potions in his hands.

"That's so cute. I'm glad to see you too, you're a very nice person and your smile is pretty," He laughed charmingly again, paid to a perplexed Jaehyun, said goodbye to Johnny, took his purchase and walked to the front door. "See you next week!"

"Seriously, this is amusing but sad at the same time," Johnny commented, trying to contain his laughter. "Jungwoo sees you as, I don't know, his best friend forever or something."

This time Jaehyun said nothing about it, sighing in frustration.

...

There was a beautiful flower called rosewoo. It was red and had soft and broad petals. It didn’t have great or powerful magical properties, but it smelled good and was a magnificent decoration; Jaehyun had liked them since he was a child, so there was always a vase with fresh rosewoos on the counter of his shop.

Jungwoo had never seen that plant, so whenever he visited the store, he was impressed by its beauty. Once in the palace they told him that it was, in fact, a somewhat common flower in the area, and that maybe it was why he didn’t know it, since he was not from the capital.

Jaehyun knew it merely because his mother was born in the capital but she moved after marrying Jaehyun's father. She had taken seven rosewoo flowers with her, and every day without fail, she applied a time freezer spell on them. At the same time always. The flowers didn’t grow in the environment to which she had moved, so taking seeds would be useless, but she could take flowers already harvested. However, they would wilt, and that was why she used a freezing spell. The bad thing about that spell is that the effect lasted just a day.

It was because of that kind of thing that Jaehyun decided to specialize in potions: they were more effective, most could become eternal, they were stronger. Sure, you had to gather the ingredients and follow steps and rules and it took longer to have the result you wanted, definitely not practical in a battle, but Jaehyun wasn't a warrior, he didn't need to worry about that, he had plenty of time to prepare his potions.

"Oh really, you don't have to give me a rosewoo every time I come." Jungwoo clarified, flustered, yet he received the flower that Jaehyun extended to him, one of many in the counter vase.

From the moment Jungwoo commented on how pretty the flowers looked, Jaehyun kept giving him one for every visit.

"Yes, I have to because you deserve to be given flowers, Jungwoo."

Johnny scoffed with from a corner of the store, but neither of the witches paid any attention: Jungwoo thought Johnny was reading or something and Jaehyun was done with his familiar and had learned to ignore his teasing.

"The name of these flowers ends just like my name." Jungwoo pointed, gently stroking a petal.

God, Jaehyun was so in love with him. Jungwoo was beautiful and kind and intelligent and everything good in the world.

The rosewoo reminded him of Jungwoo, mainly because its name, but also because Jungwoo always seemed delighted and happy when he received one of them; it was impossible to forget the expression on his face, so every time Jaehyun saw one of the flowers, he remembered Jungwoo.

"I know. A name as cute as yours."

Jungwoo let out a soft laugh that sounded like a breath of the wind, taking his shopping bag and his flower.

"Seriously, whenever I come you shower me with compliments. You're too kind, Jaehyun."

After that he left the store.

...

"If you take that with you, the whole palace will smell like toad’s fart for fifteen days." Jaehyun commented on a Thursday.

Jungwoo looked at him seriously, and as he put the jar in his basket with a completely serious face, he said: "And who said that is not what I want?" they looked at each other for a few seconds and both ended up laughing.

He was helping Jungwoo make his purchase, as the witch needed many things this time, they both walked down the aisles of Highway to Heaven looking for what was necessary.

It was nice because Johnny and Jaemin were upstairs and soft generic music played in the background. Jungwoo, as always, was all giggles and smiles and kindness, talking about his future potions and spells he planned to do, listening carefully to what Jaehyun had to say about his own potions and his shop.

Eventually they ended up sitting in the middle of the corridor of hairy herbs, the forgotten baskets aside and the both of them chatting pleasantly. At that moment, enjoying the company of the other witch, Jaehyun had forgotten that he was supposed to be working and that he probably shouldn't be sitting on the floor talking as if it were a Sunday while drinking the afternoon tea. He hoped that no more customers would arrive, but the truth was that it didn’t matter if they did, because from the beginning Jaehyun wasn’t the most serious owner or boss in the world, and everyone knew that.

"Oh!" Jaehyun said loudly. "We got a new product."

Without waiting for an answer, he ran out of the hall and went to the shelf he was looking, taking a jar from there and carrying it to the hands of Jungwoo, who watched him carefully. It was a gas, gilded with small pink glitters, and instantly he knew what it was.

"Fairy breath," he exclaimed, with excitement. He looked at Jaehyun, who showed his lovely dimples. "It's so hard to get, Jae. Highway to Heaven must be the only store in the country that sells it."

"I was looking for where to find someone to provide us with that," explained. "Fairy breath is so good at creating potions. Especially love ones."

"No side effects!"

"I'll give you that jar."

"Oh, no, I can't accept it. They just brought you the product and it must cost a fortune—"

"I'll give it to you, Jungwoo," he insisted. "I think you could use a little fairy breath to make love potions. Maybe that way you can understand the feelings of others better." he muttered, but Jungwoo didn’t hear him because he was too excited thanking him and chuckling because it was a jar _ full _of fairy breath.

Jaehyun smiled in resignation, and nodded.

... 

It was the annual potion creation competition, and Jaehyun was participating. The contest consisted of preparing certain potions indicated by the jury with unconventional ingredients, and whoever made the strongest potion, the most effective and without side effects, would win the round.

Jungwoo didn’t participate because he didn’t like that kind of thing where so many people watch you closely for a while and are free to criticize everything they want. But that didn’t prevent him from being present, encouraging his friend. He was sitting on the benches with Jaemin, Jisung, Jeno, Johnny and Doyoung.

Particularly this time it was interesting because competitors had come from all over the world, seeking not the prize, but defeating Jung Jaehyun, world champion for four consecutive years. But despite the very strong and dignified competition, Jaehyun hadn’t lost a single round, always with a small smile that showed how much fun he was having, doing what he did best and what he liked the most.

Jaehyun moved around his station masterfully, as if that had been his place of work for years. He mixed, boiled and stirred with ease, confident in a way that showed how firm his hands were when working even with ridiculous things like a toothbrush and garlic to create a whole potion of concentration with a requirement of a minimum duration of eight hours, with water and baking powder as the only extra resources.

He managed to make a potion that lasted eleven hours and that didn’t leave a headache once the effect passed, something that even potions made in cauldrons with ingredients of the best quality couldn’t avoid leaving behind. After a short pause in which everyone watched in shock as Jaehyun smiled innocently, as if he hadn’t achieved the unimaginable, the entire stadium burst into shouts and applauses.

In the final round there were only Jaehyun and another witch from a distant kingdom. The presenter smiled and announced that their task was to prepare a love potion that would make whoever drank it think about the person they love the most. It was a special potion because it was made for when someone didn’t realize their own feelings, or to clarify them.

The ingredients were revealed, and they were useless. So much that they were not worthy of being mentioned. Except for a pretty rosewoo flower, which Jaehyun took before anything else.

The difficult thing about making love potions is that as the emotion they seek to provoke, they are unstable. In addition, someone who doesn’t know the kind of love they wish to evoke can’t prepare the potion: what is needed more than the ingredients is the feeling. The more feeling the potion gets, the more the witch who prepares it feels it, the better it’ll be the final result. Of course, good magical ingredients help a lot, but it’s not essential. For each witch the ingredients may vary, however, because you can create a strong potion with a rock and water if those things remind you of someone you love. The key was to use magical ingredients to amplify the effect, but use everyday objects to do everything else.

If the feeling is not known, the witch must know how to imitate it. Creating a love potion is the hardest thing a witch can do, and it showed when he watched the other competitor: she couldn't combine the essences properly and her liquid looked green when it should be pastel pink. They couldn't blame her, the material they gave her was lousy. However, Jaehyun was given exactly the same ingredients, and he was advanced in creation and it was clear that he did it easily.

In the end, time ran out and potions were presented. Jaehyun won for the fifth consecutive year thanks to his love potion, terribly strong. When the presenter asked what the secret had been, Jaehyun, holding his trophy and showing his dimples, replied: "the rosewoo. The rosewoo was the secret."

…

All his life, Jungwoo only cared about his studies. He didn’t care about friends or family, much less a lover. He knew that was bad, but it wasn’t until Yuta he realized the importance of the people in your life: he was his friend, the only friend who decided to stay when Jungwoo was too busy in his own mind to pay attention to anyone else.

Yuta was always there, so he assumed he would always be. Until he wasn’t, and Jungwoo found himself lost. Yuta decided to go in life by his own, without Jungwoo there, because the only thing the younger gave back was indifference. In short, Yuta was older than Jungwoo and he treated him like a brother, but Jungwoo didn’t appreciate him enough and Yuta, hurt, thought Jungwoo hated him and ended the friendship. Jungwoo had to go out of his study coma to get him back. They were still very good friends, but the point here was that Jungwoo never really gave friendship or company a second thought.

And then Taeyong came, with his stupid laugh and his crown always hanging dangerously close to fall from his head, insisting in be his friend more than his boss and well, his King. He was a good king, a bit carefree when no one needed him to be serious, and when he had time he liked to go to where his witches worked and just sit there to watch them do their things.

With working at the Palace came the other witches, and all of them took Jungwoo under their wing to teach him how the palace worked.

All of them were important to Jungwoo, who now understood how relevant is to have people who appreciate you and vice versa in your life. However, for some reason, Jaehyun was a different case for him. He noticed him in a way he didn’t notice anyone else. It was weird because it wasn’t as if he craved to see him more than how he craved to see, let’s say, Yuta. Rather, it was in a different way that the crave felt. A way he hadn’t feel before.

So, when he entered the store his usual Tuesday and Jaemin was behind the counter, he was surprised. Not at the absence of Jaehyun, but at the way said absence made him feel… sad.

Jaemin smiled at him and asked if there was something of the dangerous section he needed, and when he told him what exactly, Jaemin nodded and he himself went to the back of the store, leaving Jungwoo with Jisung, Jaemin’s familiar. Then he realized that Johnny wasn’t there either, and that only meant that Jaehyun wasn’t on the store; a familiar was always close to their master, unless the master ordered the contrary. Johnny, Doyoung and Jisung were some of the few familiars that had free will, permission to do whatever they wanted given by their masters. And yet, they didn’t leave their masters any moment of the day.

He resumed to find the things he went to Highway to Heaven for and eventually approached the counter to pay for his items. Jaemin was already waiting for him with his unusual ingredients in a special basket.

“Where is Jaehyun?” he asked the younger.

“Ah, Jaehyun was called by a king of a distant kingdom to make some potions.”

“So, he’ll be back in a few days, right?”

“I don’t know,” Jaemin answered. “He received an offer to work for King Taeil, a good friend of King Taeyong. It’s such a good offer.”

Jungwoo blinked. King Taeil was known to be a potions enthusiast, and his kingdom was the one with the most advances on it. Working for the king as a potion maker was something else, and of course Jaehyun had enough talent to be noticed by the King.

Whoever in their right mind would accept.

“The store would be sold to someone,” Jaemin continued, sighing. “probably this Kun guy and his familiar Renjun. Maybe I’ll be fired. Who knows?”

Jungwoo paid and Jaemin gifted him a rosewoo, saying Jaehyun ordered him to give it to him. Jungwoo accepted it and for some reason the flower wasn’t as beautiful as always. It had the same color, the same fluffy petals, but it just wasn’t the same.

He came back to the palace and tried to ignore the stares his coworkers were giving him. Maybe he was a little sad because he didn’t get to see Jaehyun that day, and it showed.

The next Tuesday, Jungwoo had Doyoung with him when he went to Highway to Heaven. He entered the store all excited to see Jaehyun behind the counter and Johnny lazing around the store, but he only found Jaemin chirping a kind “Welcome!” and Jisung playing at a corner.

All week he was distracted and thinking about Jaehyun without realizing, and when he realized, he thought in the reason for why was he was thinking so much about his friend.

He may have an answer already.

Doyoung went to talk with Jaemin and Jisung while Jungwoo took care of his ingredients.

“He sent a letter saying he’s fine. Pretty busy, but doing fine. He likes it there,” Jaemin informed. “Want me to tell him something? I haven’t sent a letter yet.”

“Oh. Um. Tell him I miss him,” he requested, ignoring the way Doyoung raised an eyebrow and smirked. “And that I hope he’s having a great time doing what he loves the most.”

Jaemin giggled and nodded.

“Will do.”

The third Tuesday, Jaehyun wasn’t there again. This time Jeno was with Jungwoo, and the teenager ran towards Jaemin behind the counter to talk. Jungwoo was starting to consider asking Jaemin for Jaehyun’s exact whereabouts just to send him letters. But would that be weird? It would, right? Jaehyun didn’t even tell him he’d be leaving, so it’d be super weird if suddenly he received a letter from Jungwoo.

With that in mind, he made his usual way through the store.

“He says he misses you even more,” Jaemin said, smiling for something Jeno had said, when Jungwoo was in front of him with his ingredients and potions. “And that he is, indeed, having the greatest time ever.”

“I’m so happy to hear that.” he commented, with an honest smile.

“Want me to tell him something else?”

“No, it’s fine. Thanks, Jaemin. See you next week.”

He didn’t see Jaemin the next week.

This time he was alone and it was raining outside. He had a waterproof spell on and a request from Ten to buy some things for him from Highway to Heaven. He entered the store huffing and tired because he had run to there because he was an idiot who forgot the warm spell and outside was super cold.

“Welcome to Highway to Heaven.” he heard the usual greeting, but the voice was different from the one he had been hearing for the past three weeks. He looked to the counter and Jaehyun had his best dimple smile on.

Jungwoo felt as if he could breathe again. The cold he was feeling disappeared because that smile was beautiful and warm and he missed it like crazy for three weeks. He returned the smile and went to the counter, greeting Johnny on his way, who simply went to the back of the store, leaving those two alone.

He stood in front of Jaehyun, both grinning almost in a creepy way, and they started to talk about those three weeks.

He valued friendship and the people in his life now, but work was work. And when it was time to work, it didn’t matter who you were, Jungwoo would do his thing. He was in the store for work, to get the things he needed. But he spent hours talking with Jaehyun, eventually Jaemin, Jisung and Johnny came back and Jaehyun and Jungwoo moved to a corner behind the desk and continued to talk.

When he came back to the palace, late and with empty hands, King Taeyong only smiled at him with amusement, telling him that he could always go back to Highway to Heaven for the ingredients. Ten wasn’t mad when Jungwoo told him he hadn’t bring his things, he only laughed behind his palm, trying not to be so obvious.

…

“If it wasn’t because it’s clear that Jaehyun likes someone, I would date him.” Ten said. Jungwoo looked at his friend with shock.

It was time to eat lunch in the palace at that hour, and the main witches were talking while eating. Jungwoo, Ten and Sicheng were sitting at the same table, with lots of other people surrounding them and doing their own things.

The three of them were working in individual projects given by the king himself. Jungwoo had to make love potions for some reason, and it was tiring and boring. He used rosewoos as the main ingredient.

“Jaehyun likes someone?” he repeated. His two friends looked at him without any expression on their faces.

“Really? Are you seriously asking that?” Ten groaned, forgetting his sandwich to pay all his attention to Jungwoo.

“Uh, yeah. I didn’t know Jaehyun’s in love.”

“Ugh.” Sicheng rolled his eyes. “Jungwoo, you’re my friend, and because that I have all the right in the world to tell you this: you are so stupid it hurts.”

Jungwoo looked at them, offended. Why that reaction? He just wanted to know if his crush was in love and they were being harsh and unkind for literally no reason at all.

“Hey, no need to be that mean.”

“We know, sorry, it’s just— he likes you, Jungwoo,” Ten admitted, smiling. “Jaehyun is in love with you and everyone knows it.”

“Everyone but you.”

As a witch that worked with dangerous potions, and even more because he invented new and explosive potions, Jungwoo knew how it felt to have the skin burning and the stomach full of nerves; he knew the sensation of something foreign happening right in front of him. And even with his experience and knowledge, he wasn’t prepared to what that sentence made him feel.

In the school of magic, in the potions class, the professor always said one thing: “When you don’t know the content, take a deep breath and start separating the ingredients one by one in your mind, and then you’ll know what exactly conforms the potion.” And it was something that applied to lots of things, not only potions. That was a method Jungwoo used for almost every thing he didn’t understand: if he couldn’t decipher it as a whole, maybe he could start with the tiny parts that formed it and then it would be easy.

It wasn’t easy with feelings. And that moment was the biggest proof of it.

“Talk to him about it.” Was the advice King Taeyong gave Jungwoo when he went to his chambers, seeking for help.

He was a friend to Jungwoo, a wise friend, who knew about almost everything, and the matters of the heart weren’t an exception.

“But what if what Ten and Sicheng said isn’t true?”

“Jungwoo, you can’t know if you don’t ask,” He explained, with a kind smile. “The biggest mistake we make is to suppose, to guess, when the real answer is just a question away. If Jaehyun is or isn’t in love with you, only him can tell. If he is not, then there’s nothing else. Try to get to his heart or try to forget him, but you can’t force his feelings. If he is in love, well, lucky you, lucky him. But I can’t give you the final answer, am I right?”

Jungwoo was never good at dealing with feelings or people or with things in general, actually, but for that time, he would take Taeyong’s advice and would go to deal with Jaehyun and his own annoying feelings.

...

“You like someone?” was the first thing Jungwoo asked when he entered the shop that day. Jaehyun looked at him with surprise, just like Johnny did, and the familiar went to the back of the store without saying a word. Jungwoo approached the counter and stood right in front of Jaehyun.

“Uh. Y-yeah.”

“Whom?”

Jaehyun felt the anger before he could process the situation. There wasn’t really a reason to be mad, he knew, but oh boy he had those feelings for such a long time he couldn’t keep them for him and pretend everything was fine. And then Jungwoo was right there asking that and Jaehyun was mad at himself for being a coward who couldn’t just _ say it _. He was done with all the feelings bullshit.

“Whom, you ask? Hm, I don’t know,” he answered, sarcastic. “It’s obvious that is you, asshole. I’m in love with you.”

And yeah, it was spontaneous, and he was actually pretty sure something like an explosion or the end of the world would happen in the next two seconds after the confession, but nothing like that happened. The only thing that happened was Jungwoo nodding and blushing.

Hm. Unexpected and weird.

“I see,” was what Jungwoo mumbled, laughing nervously. “I… Ah, well. You know.”

Jaehyun’s expression was blank.

“No, Jungwoo, I do not know.”

“I’m pretty sure you do.”

“Kim Jungwoo, I’m warning you—”

“I like you too.”

“… Oh.”

“Yeah.”

The generic background music that Jaehyun had playing at all the times in his store was the only noise besides the sound of Jaemin and Jisung fighting for a childish reason upstairs.

“So…” Jungwoo started, smiling. “Would you like to go out with me some time?”

“Yes. Yes, I’d really like that.”

It took him a while to catch feelings, realize he had said feelings and then realizing the local potion master returned his feelings, but in the end, he scored a date with most beautiful and smartest man ever, and it was the only thing that mattered. 

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/jenosglow)


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